Reaper's Hollow: The Complete Series

Chapter 11-3

Cutter sat on the porch reflecting on what he’d done wrong. Clearly, it had been nearly everything, but he had no idea what he could’ve done differently. He had tried being direct, being completely honest, even letting her see for herself what they were capable of, but none of that seemed to matter. Now, she was out there alone, and he knew Nat had to have found her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dreamt of him. Whether Ru realized it or not, that dream wasn’t what she thought it was. He hoped his text was warning enough to keep her safe, but somehow, he didn’t think so.

Lyric pulled into the driveway and got out of his truck. He was hopeful that she’d report she’d also had a discussion with Ru and now she was much more willing to believe, but he could tell by her solemn expression that wasn’t the case. “Well, that didn’t go as expected,” she muttered, tossing his keys back to him.

Cutter caught them and shoved them into his pocket. “You think?”

Offering him a small smile, she crossed and sat down next to him on the swing. “I don’t think you could’ve done anything differently, though. All of that information at the same time has to be hard to accept. Especially the part about who she is and what she’s supposed to do.”

“I hardly even got into any of that, though,” Cutter replied, exasperated. He ran both hands through his hair and leaned forward, doubled over, his elbows embedded in his knees.

“Just give her a few days. Let her come back to us.”

“And what if she doesn’t?” Rider stepped out onto the porch and crossed it to hoist himself up on the railing.

“I think she will,” Lyric replied, her voice much calmer than Rider’s.

“But if she doesn’t….” Rider wasn’t willing to let his contention go.

“Well, we can’t do anything about it right this second. At least we found her. That’s the most important thing.” Lyric caught Cutter’s eyes, and even though he still felt like he’d messed everything up, she did have a point.

“So has Nat, apparently,” Rider reminded them. “What do we do if he takes her?”

“She won’t go with him.” Lyric seemed sure of herself, but Cutter had his doubts. If anyone could lure someone away, it was Thanatos.

“Yeah, well, no one thought Seraphina would follow Larkin either, but we saw how that went.” Rider hopped down off of the railing, causing the porch to shake a bit.

“She’s not her mother,” Cutter interjected, not sure how he knew Ru would be any different than the wayward Keeper that gave birth to her. “The circumstances are not the same at all.”

“No, Seraphina completely understood what she was doing and chose to do it anyway, whereas Ru is clueless.” Rider had his arms crossed, his expression showing his disposition was just as cross.

“We don’t know what happened with Sera for sure,” Ivy reminded them, speaking from the doorway, her voice serene. “And we won’t know until we can find her. Now that we have Ru, we might be able to.”

“We don’t have Ru, though,” Cutter replied. “And, thanks to my colossal mess up, I don’t think we ever will.”

“We will.” Lyric nodded once slowly.

“We better.” Rider stormed off, back inside, stepping around Ivy. Cutter could hear his loud boots echoing up the stairs even from out here.

Lyric patted him on the back. “Like I said, just give her a few days. Don’t say anything to her about it at work. She’ll grow curious and try to find out more information. In the meantime, Nat won’t be able to take her. She’s too strong for that.”

Cutter nodded his head, as if he were agreeing, but he had no idea if Lyric was right or not. If anything happened to Ru, he didn’t know what he would do. “Maybe… maybe I should go to her house, in spirit form, and keep an eye on her.”

“You can’t do that every night,” Ivy reminded him, stepping out onto the porch. “You have a job to do, and you’ll have to rest some time.”

He knew she had a point, but if it meant keeping Ru safe, he’d find a way. She was growing more and more important to him each day, and he realized not all of it was because she was the lost Keeper.

“We could take turns,” Lyric suggested, glancing from Cutter to Ivy and then back.

“That’s a good idea,” Cutter replied. “And since I don’t have school tomorrow, I’ll go first.”

“Well, just be careful. You don’t want her to know you’re there, and if she has honed her abilities any at all, she’ll sense you. It seems like whatever cloaking device her mother used to hide her must have dissipated once we found her because we can feel her now.” Ivy’s warning was reasonable.

He knew what she said was true. The closer he got to Ru, the more he could sense her whenever he reached out with his mind. “I’ll be cautious,” Cutter assured her, rising. He would need a dark, quiet place so that he could concentrate. His bedroom would work sufficiently, so he headed that direction. Hopefully, this would work, and he could keep Ru safe from Nat while she tried to come to grips with her own understanding of everything he’d told her. She’d have to come around eventually, wouldn’t she?